


Anthropologist's Report: On Non-Vocal Communication

by dragonofdispair



Series: Roads [19]
Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-05-01
Updated: 2008-05-01
Packaged: 2018-02-26 18:26:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2661965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonofdispair/pseuds/dragonofdispair
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Doctor Daniel Jackson's enlightened observations on communication among the Autobots...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anthropologist's Report: On Non-Vocal Communication

Being only human I have no way of definitively confirming this, but I'm certain the Autobots transmit to each other as, or more, often than they speak aloud. They don't do this out of any real desire to keep the conversations private from us human -- of that I'm as certain. Rather, sending sending and receiving, both radio and something they call 'subspace', transmissions are as integral to them as their voices are.

They use those transmissions for a variety of things. The most obvious use it to carry on a conversations at a distance. It doesn't matter that Bumblebee is at Sam's house, Ironhide is at the Lennoxs', and Ratchet and Optimus Prime driving around in directions opposite each other, they are constantly checking in and conversing with each other. They also use it like whispering -- carrying on a second conversation under the one being said aloud, since the volume of their voices and the sensitivity of their audio sensors make vocal whispering difficult or even impossible around mechs designed with especially sensitive audios.

They use them to identify each other -- an essential part of one 'bot introducing himself to another is exchanging unique, individual transmitted codes with each other. Often instead of a saying "look here" or gesturing, they will transmit a set of coordinates. It's that specific use that convinces me that they aren't using transmissions to hide information from humans.

They also don't keep the fact that they are transmitting to each other secret from each other. Their equipment may not be able to listen to transmissions that aren't directed at them or broadcast openly, but they can pick up that there are transmissions being broadcast around them.

And they don't consider it rude for private conversations to be going on around them. Once, I noticed that Ratchet and Ironhide were speaking to each other via a private transmission while Prime was speaking to them. After, I asked about it, and Prime said that if it had been inappropriate, he would have privately told them to stop.

This is an innate part of the way they communicate and they've gotten the idea that phones and cell phones are the humans' equivalent to their communications equipment -- though someone has explained to them that for humans it's considered rude to talk on the phone while talking to another person so they only use human phones for long distance communication.

  
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